1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to technologies with regard to an online game having a team management function, in which a user may preset a plurality of formations of a plurality of characters on a team, and may immediately change the plurality of preset formations during game play.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, online games have become of great importance in online culture owing to advances in network and computer technologies. Development of online games arouses user demand for various genres of online games, and a wide variety of genres of online games are available at present.
Most current online games are character based. A user may access a game server using a user terminal, and enjoy an online game by selecting and manipulating game characters provided in online games. The characters provided in online games may be free of charge, or may be purchased in game using game points. Assuming that the user possesses a plurality of characters, the user may play a game while changing characters between turns. In an exemplary online game having a character provision function, the user possesses a team consisting of a plurality of characters, and manages the team by individually scouting, employing, or making a contract with each of the plurality of characters constituting the team.
In some team management games, positions of characters on a team during a match may be an important factor in play of the match. In these team management games, that all of the plurality of characters perform the same role is very rare. The plural characters may respectively perform a designated role, and may have different abilities from other characters in order to perform the corresponding role. However, due to the fact that abilities of the plurality of characters are differently set, respective positions of the plurality of characters may be a decisive factor in the victory or defeat of a team in the team management games. That is, a formation, which refers to all the respective positions of the plurality of characters, is an important factor in such a team management game.
A representative example that utilizes such a formation may be an online sports game. In an online sports game, such as baseball and soccer games, a formation that sets respective positions of a plurality of characters is very important for team management. In particular, in the case of an online soccer game, as in a real world soccer, a wide variety of formations may be employed during a given match. In addition, a formation may be a decisive factor in the victory or defeat of a team even in games other than online sports games. For example, among characters generally adopted in online fantasy games, typically, a gladiator is deployed at the front line of a team based on a short attack distance and strong stamina, whereas a magician is deployed at the final line of a team based on a long attack distance, weak stamina, low agility, etc.
Accordingly, setting of a formation may affect the victory or defeat of a team during game play of an online game. However, most conventional online games adopt only a single formation that is preset prior to playing a game. However, in an online game in which a plurality of formations is available, a formation having relative superiority may be present between respective formations. That is, if a team adopts a particular formation, the particular formation may have an advantageous or adverse effect on game play of an opponent team adopting one formation among a plurality of other formations. In this case, conventional online games have no function to change between formations during game play, which inevitably causes user difficulty in playing a match. Moreover, the number of formations settable in a game is often very limited, which results in a low degree of user freedom.